sailboat seamanship 193
Note: some modern boats have mainsails that roll up onto a vertical furling
unit inside the mast. This method will not work with the horizontal battens that
stiffen a mainsail’s leech and give it its characteristic convex profile, or roach.
Without battens a mainsail can have no roach, and without roach it becomes
a smaller sail, so in-mast furling requires a modest sacrifice in performance.
(Ways around this have been developed, including vertical battens and deflatable
battens, but these are not yet mainstream solutions.) Its great advantage is that
it is easy and convenient when it works right, and many a shorthanded crew
swears by in-mast furling. However, it adds a lot of complexity to reefing, so
you will need to work out an alternative way of sailing, or sail under headsail
alone, if the mechanism fails.
To jiff y reef:
- Set the topping lift to maintain a horizontal boom when the main is
lowered. Slack the mainsheet and boom vang. - With the mainsail luffi ng, ease the main halyard until you can haul the
reefed tack cringle down to the tack position, where it is secured either by
the reefi ng line or by passing the cringle over the windward ram’s horn (a
curved hook attached to the boom). - Retension the halyard. Th e tack and head cringles need to take all the loads
in a reefed sail. - Pull on the clew reef line to haul the boom up to the clew reef cringle. Set
the clew with good outhaul and downhaul tension. Ease the topping lift so it
is no longer taking a strain. Trim the reefed sail.
SEA-CRET TIP
X Don’t concern yourself with furling the excess material in a reefed
mainsail foot right away. Get the boat balanced and level fi rst.
X Before furling the bunt of the reefed main, sheet the boom in
hard to the centerline. This gives the crew a solid handhold.
X Keep the reef tie points very loose. This keeps the sail from tearing
at the tie point or along a nearby seam.Reducing Headsail Area
Either partially furl your roller-furled headsail to a reefed position, or change
to a smaller headsail to reduce your headsail area. If the latter, hank on a lapper